eBay, online auction powerhouse purchased Skype from Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis for $US2.6 billion in 2005.Since then, however, Skype has grown as a profitable and independent with over 40 million active daily users around the world who use Skype for business or to keep in touch with friends. The loss of the Skype service, which carries about 8 per cent of all international voice traffic, would have a major impact on global communications.

eBay has since been licensing the technology from the founders’ new company, Joltid, but the pair recently decided to revoke the licensing agreement. The 2.6 billion dollar price tag did not include the "Global Index P2P software" that Skype is based on. Joltid is trying to cancel the license that Skype uses for this technology. If this happens, the Skype service will be shut down permanently.

The matter is now the subject of a legal battle in the English High Court of Justice, with eBay trying to force Joltid to let it continue using the technology.

Joltid was founded in 2001 by the team who created Kazaa. One of that team is Niklas Zennstrom, who co-founded Skype, Kazaa and Joost.